WICHITA, Kan. — Three years ago, the heat was on Kevin Willard. It was oven-hot. His first five seasons at Seton Hall had produced one NIT appearance and little else. His highest finish in the Big East was a seventh-place tie.
The rope he had was short. Three years later, he’s one of the most accomplished coaches in program history, with three straight NCAA Tournament berths, three straight 20-win seasons and a Big East Tournament crown to his credit.
Still, his detractors believe it’s the result of the magical 2014 recruiting class more than his development as a coach. But the Pirates disagree.
“Coach put us in this position to be successful, so he saved his own job by putting us in the position to be successful,” one of his core seniors, Ismael Sanogo, said before eighth-seeded Seton Hall met No. 1-seed Kansas on Saturday night in a Midwest Region second-round game. “Without him, we wouldn’t be as good as we are now.”
Needing a talent infusion, Willard thought outside of the box, making hiring maneuvers to ensure landing two key ingredients of that class. He brought aboard assistant coaches Oliver Antigua, who helped land rugged forward Angel Delgado, and Dwayne “Tiny” Morton, who helped with five-star guard Isaiah Whitehead. Willard has never hid from those hires — the two assistants lasted just one year apiece.
“I had to be creative in a way that could help us and be perfectly legal about it,” Willard said in the past of the hires.
Whitehead is alleged in a Yahoo Sports report to have received $26,136 from Christian Dawkins, a former employer for sports agency ASM Sports, during his freshman year, and being given $37,657 at an undetermined date, according to documents the FBI recovered as part of its investigation into college basketball corruption. Morton was also listed in the documents for receiving a $9,500 loan, which he has denied receiving. Seton Hall has hired New York City law firm Jackson Lewis P.C. to head up an internal investigation into its program.
The 42-year-old Willard, with more talent on his hands, changed his approach. He became stricter after chemistry issues blew up a potential sterling 2014-15 season. He’s reprimanded players where in the past he may have let things go. He suspended Sanogo for a game this year for violating team and school rules. He benched Desi Rodriguez for the final 35 minutes against Creighton. And yet his team adores him, calling him a player’s coach. The seniors have all described him as a father figure. Unprompted, after the opening-round win over N.C. State, Rodriguez thanked Willard for trusting him on a bad left ankle/foot and playing him 29 minutes.
“Coach is a person that you can always go to and talk to, and he’ll understand anything you say to him,” Rodriguez said. “And he’ll make adjustments. Just having a person like that is great to play for. We came together and we didn’t break apart and we’ve been together for four years and I’m excited for that.”
Said Delgado: “I would not change him for anything — any coach in the country.”
Ironically, as Willard grew tougher with his players with discipline, he became more lenient on the court. He stopped trying to force the proverbial square peg into a round hole. He let his talent dictate his team’s identity. Seton Hall still runs offense and defense as Willard wants, but he’s become more flexible.
“It’s much more their personality than it is mine,” he said. “I’ve kind of sat back and let them grow as men and grow as a team because I think it’s been very important to let them take ownership in this program.”
So, in a way, maybe Willard saved his own job. Maybe he just grew wiser from his first four years, figured out the best way to get the most out of his players. But most importantly, realized the kind of players he needs to win.
“I think that’s something that I’ve learned is you get the right type of kids who want to work, you can be successful,” he said. “And these guys, I’ve said it 8 million times, they’ve worked so hard. Success was going to happen just because of how hard they worked.”
They also had the right guy pushing them.